phpMyFAQ vulnerabilities

phpMyFAQ is an open source FAQ web application. A stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in versions prior to 4.2.0-alpha allows any unauthenticated user (or low-privileged registered user) to inject arbitrary JavaScript that executes in an administrator's browser when they review or edit a user-submitted FAQ entry. This leads to admin account takeover via session theft.

A vulnerability in phpMyFAQ before version 4.1.5 allows unauthenticated attackers to retrieve inactive (draft or review-only) FAQ content due to inconsistent filtering in public API endpoints.

phpMyFAQ before version 4.1.5 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the concatenatePaths() function in Wrapper.php. An authenticated user with FAQ editing privileges can store crafted HTML with image paths that are processed during PDF generation. Lack of path canonicalization and root-directory containment validation may allow reading files outside the intended content directory.

In phpMyFaq before version 2.9.9, there is a CSRF vulnerability in admin/ajax.config.php.

In phpMyFAQ before version 2.9.9, there is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability that allows modification of a glossary.

In phpMyFAQ before version 2.9.9, there is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in admin/stat.main.php.

In phpMyFAQ before version 2.9.9, there is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in admin/ajax.attachment.php and admin/att.main.php.

In phpMyFAQ before version 2.9.9, there is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in admin/news.php.

In phpMyFAQ before version 2.9.9, there is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in admin/stat.adminlog.php.

In phpMyFAQ before version 2.9.9, there is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in admin/stat.ratings.php.

In phpMyFAQ before version 2.9.9, there is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability allowing the addition of glossary terms.

phpMyFAQ 4.0.0 before 4.1.9 contains an authentication bypass vulnerability where WebAuthn registration endpoints attach credentials to any account without authentication or challenge validation. Attackers can stage a victim username, submit a forged fmt=none attestation to register a passkey, then log in bypassing passwords and TOTP for account takeover.

phpMyFAQ before version 4.1.6 contains a remote code execution vulnerability in the configuration API. An authenticated administrator with CONFIGURATION_EDIT and ATTACHMENT_ADD privileges can manipulate the upgrade.lastDownloadedPackage setting to write arbitrary PHP files and achieve code execution as the web server user.

phpMyFAQ before version 4.1.2 contains an unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability in the BuiltinCaptcha::garbageCollector() and BuiltinCaptcha::saveCaptcha() methods. Attackers can exploit the public GET /api/captcha endpoint by injecting malicious User-Agent headers, leading to the leakage of sensitive data.

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.2 contains an improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts vulnerability in the /admin/check endpoint, which accepts arbitrary user-id parameters without session binding or rate limiting. Unauthenticated attackers can brute-force any user's six-digit TOTP code by submitting POST requests with sequential token values, bypassing two-factor authentication to gain full administrative access.

phpMyFAQ before 2.9.8 does not properly mitigate brute-force attacks that try many passwords in attempted logins quickly.

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.10 contains an object-level authorization bypass vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to modify or delete any visitor question by supplying an arbitrary openQuestionID to POST /api/faq/create. Attackers solving the CAPTCHA can rewrite question categories, forge answered entries in faqquestion_history, or permanently delete questions when records.enableDeleteQuestion is enabled.

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.10 contains a server-side request forgery vulnerability in the PDF export feature that fetches external images referenced in FAQ answers. Attackers who can influence FAQ content can embed image URLs pointing to loopback or internal services, causing the server to request them and embed responses in generated PDFs.

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains an authorization bypass vulnerability in attachment.php that allows attackers to download attachments of restricted FAQs by bypassing per-record permission checks. Low-privileged users with the dlattachment right, or anonymous users when allowDownloadsForGuests is enabled, can request attachment IDs to retrieve confidential files from restricted FAQs.

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.9 contains a missing authorization vulnerability in the deleteUser() API that allows authenticated non-superadmin users with delete_user permission to delete superadmin accounts. Attackers can send a DELETE request to /admin/api/user/delete with a superadmin's userId other than 1, removing administrative access and accountability.

phpMyFAQ 4.0.0 before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains a broken object-level authorization vulnerability in the PUT /api/v3.1/faq/update endpoint, which checks only the global edit_faq permission and does not verify access to the target FAQ. Authenticated users with edit_faq permission can supply the ID of a restricted FAQ they cannot view to modify its content, bypass moderation, and change its publication state.

phpMyFAQ 4.0.0 before 4.1.9 contains a cross-site request forgery vulnerability in the POST /admin/api/update-database endpoint, which executes database migrations without validating a CSRF token. Attackers can lure a logged-in user with the CONFIGURATION_EDIT permission into submitting a crafted cross-site request, triggering migrations that may impact database integrity or availability.

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains a cross-site request forgery vulnerability in the Elasticsearch and OpenSearch administration API endpoints, which do not validate a CSRF token for the create, drop, and import actions. Attackers can lure a user with CONFIGURATION_EDIT permission to a malicious page that triggers these actions, deleting search indexes, forcing re-indexing, or exhausting resources.

phpMyFAQ 3.2.0 before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains an insecure direct object reference vulnerability in GET /admin/api/user/data/{userId}, which returns any user's full faquserdata row, including the live TOTP secret, without a SuperAdmin or protected-target check. Delegated administrators with user-management rights can read a SuperAdmin's TOTP secret and generate valid codes to bypass two-factor authentication.

phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains an information disclosure vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to read hidden open questions due to an inverted api.onlyPublicQuestions check in OpenQuestionController. Attackers can send GET requests to the /api/v4.0/open-questions endpoint to retrieve non-public moderation or internal questions and their associated usernames.

phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in SvgSanitizer that allows users with FAQ_EDIT permission to bypass sanitization using XML DTD custom entities. Attackers can upload an SVG defining an entity that expands to javascript in an anchor href, executing script when viewers click it to hijack admin sessions.

phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains an authorization bypass vulnerability in isFaqAccessibleForUser() that treats a missing FAQ translation as visible to unauthenticated users. Attackers can send a mismatched Accept-Language header to the comments and attachments API endpoints to read comments and attachment listings of unpublished or ACL-restricted FAQs.

phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains an uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in the unauthenticated faqs and search API endpoints. Attackers can send concurrent GET requests that load and process all database records into PHP memory, exhausting CPU and memory to crash the server.

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains an improper authorization vulnerability in attachment.php that fails to verify whether an attachment's parent FAQ is published or visible to the requester. Authenticated users with the dlattachment permission can request index.php?action=attachment&id=<ID> to download complete attachment files belonging to draft FAQs.

phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains an authentication bypass vulnerability that allows Keycloak users to take over local accounts by matching preferred_username or email. Attackers controlling a Keycloak identity with a colliding username or unverified email can log in through /auth/keycloak/authorize to bind their subject and gain superadmin privileges.

phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains an authorization bypass vulnerability that allows category-restricted editors to manage attachments of FAQs outside their categories by supplying arbitrary record IDs. Attackers in medium permission mode can send upload or delete requests with a target record_id or attachment ID to tamper with or remove files on unauthorized FAQs.

phpMyFAQ from 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in SvgSanitizer that allows FAQ editors to store executable SVG files. Attackers can split script tags around removed tokens like processing instructions so single-pass removal reassembles them, executing script in the application origin when victims open the file.

phpMyFAQ 3.2.0 before 4.0.0 and 4.0.2 before 4.2.0-beta contains an authentication bypass in its Microsoft Entra ID login flow, which links users by the mutable preferred_username claim and whose AuthEntraId::create() ignores the duplicate-login exception while continuing with the existing local account. Attackers controlling an Entra identity in the configured tenant with a matching preferred_username can take over that local account, including super-admin accounts.

phpMyFAQ 3.2.1 before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability that allows authenticated content authors to inject JavaScript by embedding iframes with data:text/html sources in FAQ or News content. Attackers can bypass the hostless media-host allowlist in FaqHelper::cleanUpContent(), which is rendered via Twig's raw filter, to run phishing interfaces or top-frame redirects for viewers.

phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in GroupController::saveCategoryRestrictions() that lets delegated administrators assign categories outside their own scope. Category-restricted administrators can POST to /admin/api/group/category-restrictions with out-of-scope or empty categoryIds to grant groups unrestricted category access.

phpMyFAQ 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta lacks effective rate limiting on the unauthenticated user/password/update and user/password/reset endpoints. Unauthenticated attackers can send unlimited reset requests to flood a registered user's inbox with reset emails, exhausting mailer and server resources.

phpMyFAQ from 4.2.0-alpha.2 before 4.2.0-beta contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the group permission API, whose updatePermissions and updateMembers endpoints check held rights without regard to language or category scope and write unrestricted group grants. Non-superadmin administrators holding GROUP_EDIT can grant a group a right they hold only in a narrow scope and self-join it via updateMembers, gaining unrestricted FAQ create, edit, and publish access across all languages and categories.

phpMyFAQ from 4.2.0-alpha.2 before 4.2.0-beta contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in UserController::updateUserRights that drops per-right language restrictions when rights are re-granted. Administrators holding USER_EDIT can submit language-scoped rights to the update-rights API, including for themselves, to gain unrestricted FAQ create, edit, and publish access across all languages.

phpMyFAQ from 4.1.0 before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains a missing authorization vulnerability in the admin dashboard that allows authenticated users without admin rights to view restricted data. Attackers with any activated account can request /admin/index.php/ to read unpublished FAQ questions, admin edit URLs, recent user identities, and site statistics.

phpMyFAQ from 4.0.0 before 4.1.9 contains an incorrect authorization vulnerability that allows delegated admins lacking the editnews right to modify news by calling PUT /admin/api/news/update, which checks NEWS_DELETE instead of NEWS_EDIT. Attackers holding addnews and delnews can read the update-news CSRF token from their own cookie and rewrite any news item's header, body, author, link and active flag shown on the public front page.

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains an account enumeration vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to confirm registered display names and emails via a distinct HTTP 409 response. Attackers can submit guest comments to the comment create endpoint with candidate user and mail values to link names to emails for targeted phishing.

phpMyFAQ from 4.2.0-alpha.2 before 4.2.0-beta lacks brute-force lockout in the removeTwofactorConfig() 2FA removal endpoint, allowing authenticated attackers to guess TOTP codes without limit. Attackers holding a hijacked session and CSRF token can repeatedly POST guesses to /api/user/remove-twofactor to permanently disable the victim's 2FA.

phpMyFAQ from 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains a missing authorization vulnerability in GroupController::deleteGroup() that omits privilege-level checks on target groups. Authenticated non-SuperAdmin administrators holding GROUP_DELETE can send a crafted groupId to /admin/api/group/delete to permanently destroy higher-privileged groups and strip members' inherited rights.

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta does not require the current password when changing an account e-mail in the user control panel (UserController::updateData, api/user/data/update), checking only the session and CSRF token. An attacker with a hijacked session can set the e-mail to their own mailbox and use the password-reset flow to take over non-2FA accounts, including superadmin.

phpMyFAQ 3.2.0-alpha before 4.1.9 and 4.2.0-alpha before 4.2.0-beta contains an authentication bypass vulnerability that allows IdP-authenticated users to skip TOTP two-factor authentication through the Keycloak and Entra ID SSO callbacks. Attackers holding a valid or phished IdP identity linked to a 2FA-enabled account can complete the OIDC flow and obtain a fully authenticated session, including administrator accounts.

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.9 contains an SQL injection vulnerability in PdoMysql::escape(), which escapes single quotes with backslashes that are treated literally when MySQL or MariaDB runs in NO_BACKSLASH_ESCAPES mode. Unauthenticated attackers can send a Unicode right single quotation mark in the search parameter of api/autocomplete, which is normalized to an ASCII quote, to read credentials and configuration secrets, modify records, or drop tables.

phpMyFAQ through 4.1.10 contains a missing authorization vulnerability in the MCP server faq_search tool that allows MCP clients to read restricted FAQs because Search::searchDatabase() never applies user or group permission checks. Attackers connected to the phpmyfaq:mcp:server can issue search queries to retrieve the full question and answer text of active FAQs restricted to specific users or groups.

phpMyFAQ before 4.1.6 has a vulnerability in the StopWords::add() method that builds a SQL INSERT statement using sprintf() and inserts the user-supplied stop word value directly into the query without calling the database escaping function. An authenticated administrator can submit a crafted value that breaks out of the SQL string literal and injects arbitrary SQL, including dropping tables, exfiltrating data, or modifying other rows.

phpMyFAQ before version 4.2.0-alpha is vulnerable to SQL LIKE wildcard injection in the chat user search. An authenticated user can bypass the display-name search filter and enumerate active users, as % and _ are not escaped.

phpMyFAQ versions 3.2.0 through 4.1.5 contain an authentication bypass in the public two-factor authentication verification flow. An unauthenticated attacker can submit an account's numeric user ID and a valid or brute-forced six-digit TOTP code without the password, allowing takeover of any 2FA-enabled account, including administrators. Version 4.1.6 patches the issue by binding TOTP verification to a session established after successful password authentication and limiting failed TOTP attempts.